The Fall of Shiganshina

Hajime Isayama/ Kodansha Comics/ September 9, 2009/208 pgs

The Fall of Shiganshina

Hajime Isayama/ Kodansha Comics/ September 9, 2009/208 pgs

Character Description

Eren Jeager- Eren is the main character of Attack on Titan. He is the one with the most determination and drive. His number one goal is to drive the Titans off the face of the Earth. He wants to join the Survey corps. to get closer to the Titans.(To eliminate them)

Mikasa Ackerman- Mikasa is Eren's adopted sister. She is the strong, but silent type and excels at almost everything. She wants to join the regiment that Eren does. She gets the best scores in the training camp and number one in the class.

Armin Arlert- Armin is Eren's childhood friend. He is short, but extremely smart. Armin can make many good, logical and smart choices.He is not good physically. Armin will follow Eren, and will join any regiment Eren does.

Titans- The Titans are the main antagonist. They are huge, hulking beasts that can't communicate and reproduce, but they keep on multiplying. The Titans eat humans although they don't need to eat. They don't eat any other life forms except humans. Their origin is unknown.

The Summary

Attack on Titan is about Eren Jeager and his struggle against the Titans. Humanity has been devoured by these giant beasts for hundreds of years. They built the 50 meter walls- Wall Maria, Rose, and Sina. Maria is the outer, Rose is in the middle of Maria and Sina, and Sina is the complete interior, where the king and the Military Police reside.

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin are sitting on some stairs leading down to a river's edge, and Armin is talking. Then, a huge explosion sounds and everyone gathers in the streets. A 50 meter Titan has broken down wall Maria. The book ends when Eren gets eaten by one of the Titans.

Eren's Speech

"So what you're saying is, "I don't think we can win, so I'm giving up. Tell me... What's so good about giving up? Is it better to escape from reality, to the point where you're throwing away your hope? In the first place... It's a given that we'd lose to the Titans in material terms. One of the causes of our defeat four years ago was our ignorance about the Titans... We lost then, but the information we gained will surely lead to our hope for the future. And yet you're going to give up on developing strategies to fight them? Do you want to be Titan food that badly? Give me a break. I have a dream... It's to exterminate the Titans and leave this cramped walled-up world. My dream is to explore... The outside world." (The book is mainly dialogue, so it is Eren who is speaking)

The quote is an explanation of why Eren wants to fight the Titans so badly. He is explaining why he is trying to fight back, and that the human race is going to fall prey to the Titans. It moves and motivates many of the people who are in the room as well to fight back and to try and reclaim all that has been lost to the Titans.

The Review

I thought the book was great! There was action, adventure, and mystery. The story and idea of hulking beasts with an unknown origin suddenly popping up is really cool to me! I would give this book a 9.75/10 because some of the parts I felt were a little rushed, like one part where it said: 5 years later. Otherwise I loved it!